Frank Spagnolo - Court action

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A man has been fined $3000 for odometer tampering, by substituting an instrument panel on a Toyota Hilux displaying a reading reduced by about 139,000km.

Frank Spagnolo, of Hillside, pleaded guilty in Sunshine Magistrates’ Court on 16 November to breaching the Motor Car Traders Act 1986 by substituting a device or instrument for recording the distance travelled by a motor car.

On 7 April, Mr Spagnolo bought a 2009 Toyota Hilux from Pickles Auctions with an odometer reading of about 196,300kms. He then bought a second-hand instrument cluster panel displaying an odometer reading of about 56,000kms.

Mr Spagnolo installed the panel, but the substitution was discovered when he presented the car to an auction house for sale. The sale did not proceed.

The court fined Mr Spagnolo $3000, without conviction and ordered that he pay $477 costs.